At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Mark 8:33 NABRE
Jesus has been teaching His disciples, giving a witness to the kind of life He would have them live. After so much teaching Jesus tells them about how His ministry will come to an end. The Son of Man must suffer greatly, be rejected and killed. Then after three days He will rise. It is a very clear prophecy about His crucifixion, death and resurrection in time. In Mark’s telling this is the first mention of Jesus’ death and resurrection. So far everything has been joy and celebration for Jesus and His disciples, so this telling of death is quite a surprise. Naturally, it is not accepted easily and Peter challenges Jesus, not wanting Him to speak in this manner. Jesus calls Peter the tempter, and pushes him behind Him. Jesus tells Peter he is not thinking as God does, but as human thinks. Peter wants Jesus in the flesh, it is natural, who of us wants to lose someone we love to death, even if we are believers and know they will rise. We want the flesh, to be able to touch a loved one and speak with them, hold them and tell them we love them. We are thinking as humans think, we love those we love and we want them with us.
But, God’s plan is for death to transform us fully, to be united with perfect love, where all we know is love. In the world we suffer, united to perfect love we only have love. To think as God thinks requires we are not to be attached to those we love but to want what is best for them and the world. We must let our human needs go, and be ready to embrace the thinking of God, receiving more love than we can imagine. Peter’s brash response provides a teaching we must heed.
Do you think death is a good thing? Who do you miss who has died?
To think as God thinks requires we are not to be attached to those we love but to want what is best for them and the world. We must let our human needs go, and be ready to embrace the thinking of God, receiving more love than we can imagine. Click To Tweet#bible #godisgreat #jesus #christianity #dailybibleverse @youversion #BeAnEncourager #think #heed #Mark #everybodyalways #god #jesuschrist #jesussaves #godisgood #dailydevotion #biblestudy #scripture #bibleverse #verseoftheday #cross #last #gospels #loveeachother #godisgreat #thisVineyard #youversion #everythingalways